Abstract
We analyze the existence, stability and mobility of gap solitons in a periodic photonic structure with nonlocal nonlinearity. Within the Bragg region of bandgaps, gap solitons exhibit better stability and higher mobility due to the combinations of nonlocality effect and the oscillation nature of Bloch waves. Using linear stability analysis and calculating the Peierls-Nabarro potentials, we demonstrate that gap solitons can revive a nontrivial breather-like collision even in the periodic systems with the help of nonlocal nonlinearity. Such interesting behaviors of gap solitons in nonlocal nonlinear photonic crystals are believed to be useful in optical switching devices. © IOP Publishing Ltd.